Rinko Kikuchi

Born Yuriko Kikuchi on Jan. 6, 1981, in Kanagawa, Japan, Kikuchi was the youngest of three children and an only daughter. From the time she was a young girl Kikuchi loved movies, but it was her introduction to the films of John Cassavetes and the striking performances of his wife Gena Rowlands that inspired her to begin acting. Agents encouraged Kikuchi to start her career with commercial modeling, but the feisty teen found it boring and also rejected suggestions that she learn to be a pop singer, as her sights were firmly set on dramatic film acting. Her earliest big screen appearances were in a pair of films by renowned Japanese director Kaneto Shindo: "Ikitai" (1999) and "Sanmon Yakusha" ... Continue Bio >>